Phoenixville Area Chamber of Commerce

Spring City...

Spring-Ford Museum
Come visit the museum to browse personal and professional items of Royersford and Spring City communities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Also view artifacts and memorabilia of the manufacturers and retailers.

Cast iron kitchen ranges, parlor stoves and ovens from 1853 to the mid 1900's
Hand blown glass bottles and artifacts.
A tubular knitting machine, now obsolete to that industry.
Native American artifacts.
Sad iron and early gas & electric irons.
Victorian fireplace
Canal and railroad memorabilia.
Antique clothing, WWI, WWII uniforms.
Medical equipment.
...and many more items.

Museum Hours:
Monday and Wednesday - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Tuesdays Evenings - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
1st and 3rd Sunday of each month - 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

William Lewin Plantation House
526 Main Street
Royersford, PA
(610) 948-7127

A Pathway Through the Past...

With only four or five farms in the immediate area that was to become Royersford and Spring City, the opening of the Schuylkill Navigation Canal in 1824 was the beginning of growth on the Chester County side of the river.

In 1835 James Rogers built a small store near the Royer Locks, or stop gates, and sold grocery supplies to canal travelers. The first three houses were built in 1837 along what is now known as North Main Street.

On the Montgomery County side of the river, in 1838, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was laying track through this area and workmen were camping in the woods along Third and Second Avenues.

At this time the only means of crossing the river was by a fording place, near the vicinity of the present bridge. This had been called the Royer's ford after two Royer brothers, Benjamin and David, who had farms along the river on the Chester County side.

Although the Royer brothers were no longer living when the first trains started running in December 1839 - Benjamin died in 1823 and David died in 1832 - the conductors called out "Royer's Ford" for this stop.

By 1841 the trains were running a full schedule; a covered bridge had been built over the river; and two taverns were open for business at the train stop.

With the canal on one side of the river, a railroad on the other side and a bridge connecting the land, it was only reasonable that the area would attract people, business, and industry.

Spring City was chartered as the borough of "Springville" on August 12, 1867. The 1870 census counted a population of 1112. In 1872 the name was changed to Spring City. Royersford received its charter on June 14, 1879 and by 1880 had a population of 558.

The Pennsylvania Railroad was completed from Philadelphia to Reading and the first train went through Spring City in September, 1884.

In the early 1900's both towns were flourishing as industrial centers, noted for their stove foundries, glass works, knitting mills, and other smaller industries, and the Main Streets were busy with retail stores.

Between the 1950's and the early 1990's most of this earlier industry had either closed or moved from the area.

Information provided by the Spring-Ford Area Historical Society of Royersford & Spring City, PO Box 312, Royersford, PA 19468. Call for more information at (610) 948-7127.